Omthera Pharmaceuticals Files for IPO

Omthera Pharmaceuticals has joined the wave of companies wanting to come public. Omthera is a clinical stage biotech and will trade under the ticker OMTH on Nasdaq after its initial public offering. The underwriting group consists of BofA/Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Leerink Swann, Stifel and Piper Jaffray.

The company is an emerging specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of new therapies for abnormalities in blood lipids and the treatment of cardiovascular disease. Epanova is currently its sole product candidate and is a late-stage, novel, omega-3 free fatty acid composition that meaningfully reduces triglycerides, improves other key lipid parameters and is expected to increase patient convenience with 2-gram once-a-day dosing with or without meals.

The company said:

We own exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize Epanova through a licensing agreement with Chrysalis Pharma AG, or Chrysalis. Epanova is currently protected by issued patents that we license from Chrysalis that run until at least 2025, and by pending patent applications, including applications that we jointly own with Chrysalis, that run to 2033 in the United States and other major pharmaceutical markets.